Siem Reap, Cambodia

 Notes from the journal:

7/18

  • Landed in Siem Reap (airport is very far from city) and split a tuk tuk with a girl I met at the airport because we didn’t want to wait for the bus, and the split tuk tuk ended up being cheaper
  • Checked into my hostel (Sophia had arrived early in the morning on her night bus) and went to a cafe down the street with Sophia, planned our Angkor Wat trip, and then waded thru muddy water in the flooded street on the way back to our hostel
  • Went to grocery store for snacks, swam at the hostel, and got dinner, before going to a nigh market that was basically just a tourist trap
  • Went to pub street and got a 75 cent beer plus free chips (kind of weird vibes but it ended up being fine and fun)

7/19

  • Woke up early and went to Angkor Wat on our rented bicycles
  • Saw the main Angkor Wat temple, which was gorgeous, and walked around the temple for awhile. We ate our Angkor Wat cookies imprinted with the temple in front of the temple, which was fun :)
  • Biked to Bayon temple and admired all of the intricate carvings, before making our way around the rest of the complex, stopping at most of the temples. Angkor Wat definitely lived up to its reputation, and was a really cool intersection of ancient civilization/architecture and nature. Some of the temples had giant trees growing on top of them, which was really cool, and I was surprised at how accessible all of the areas were to tourists (you can walk inside and on top of almost all parts of the temples).
  • We had an amazing time bicycling through the complex with gorgeous weather, and it only started to rain when we were getting close to town again (we got SO lucky and this was also my first sunny day in Cambodia!!)
  • Went to the grocery store and then got dinner

7/20

  • Went to a highly rated restaurant for their $9 breakfast buffet, where you can order unlimited menu items and all are authentic Cambodian dishes or Cambodian adaptations to regional dishes. The breakfast was amazing, the restaurant was fancy, and I stuffed myself before walking to my bus to Battambang


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Personally, I didn’t find that Siem Reap was worth spending time in aside from Angkor Wat, which was amazing!! There are pros and cons to experiencing Angkor Wat with or without a guide, and I can’t speak to the guided experience, but I can say that we were able to go at our own pace (spending extra time where it normally wouldn’t be spent, and less time with large crowds). We looked up information before, after, and during to try to increase the amount of information we were able to learn. I would also recommend visiting Angkor Wat on a bicycle. Aside from being economic, it was such an enjoyable way to see the entire complex at our own pace (assuming good weather). I only needed one day to feel like I saw everything I wanted to at a leisurely pace. A very brief stop at pub street is fun, and I would highly recommend the Malis Restaurant Siem Reap.


























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